Wallboard trim



WALLBOARD TRIM Filed Oct. 29, 1952 THOMAS W, PARSLOI K,

.INVENTOR,

single rigid vertical frame member.

Uited States PatentO WALLBOARD TRllVI Thomas W. Parslow, Baldwin Park, Califl, assignor to Angeles Metal Trim Co., a corporation of California Application October 29, 1952, Serial No. 317,393

4 Claims. (Cl. 2074) wall type construction is frequently adopted. In that type of construction the walls are formed by means of a wallboard, such as gypsum-rock panels having cardboard-like sheets on the outer surfaces thereof. Where the edge of the wallboard lies over a structural member of a building as. along an exposed frame member of a door, window, or other opening, formed in the building, it is desirable to make some provision for protecting and concealing the edge of the wallboard.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide'an improved metal trim for protecting and concealing the edges of sections of wallboard that terminate at exposed positions. such as those that lie atthesides of a door, win dow, or other opening, formed in a building.

Another object of this invention is to provide such an improved trim which may be readily applied after the wallboard has been mounted in place.

Another object of this invention is to provide such a trim member that is of simple construction, low manufacturing cost and which may be easily applied.

Another object of this invention is to provide a trim member that does not require special preparation of a frame member with which it isused.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a drywall construction which is free of paint cracks along its edge and which has a smooth finish throughout.

The foregoing and other objects of this invention, together with various advantages thereof will become apparent from the followingdescri-ption taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure, 1- is a perspective view; partly broken away, illustrating the application of this invention to a door opening; 2

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the door opening taken on the plane 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig, 3' is. a fragmentary perspective view of a trim member constructed in accordance with this invention; and

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional View. of the trim member taken, on the plane 41-4 of Fig. 3.. 2

Referring to the drawing and particularly to Figs. 1 and, 2, there is illustrated a doorway to which this invention has been applied. The. doorway is. formed by two vertical frame members at the sides thereof and a horizontal frame member 12 at the top thereof; Each of .the vertical frame members 10 consists of a cripple 14,

such as. a'. two-by-four, and a jamb 16, such as, a one-byfour... Each j'amb and its associated cripple are secured together firmly by finishing nails (not shown) to form a The horizontal frame member 12 likewise consists of a two-by-four rough header l8 and a one-by-four finish header 20, simil'arly secured together. A stop 22 may be secured, if needed, to one of the vertical frame members lili in order to limit movement ofthe unhinged edge of; the. door 24;

Panels or other pieces 30 of wallboard are nailed in place, forming a smooth surface on the interior of the wall which surrounds the doorway. The panels are first nailed to structural members of the wall at a distance from the doorway and then the edges near the doorway are finished off as described below. Normally such panels have a thickness of about one-half inch and are several feet wide and several feet long.

According to this invention, the edges 32 of the wallboard adjacent the frame members, such as the vertical members 10, are concealed and protected by means. of an improved trim member 40 that is formed by bending a strip of metal to the desired U-shape as described below.

The trim member comprises a flat side trim section 41, a flat front trim section 42', and a resilient concave rear trim section 43. The front trim section 42 is joined to the front edge of the side trim section 41 by means of a forwardly projecting part in the form of a convex head 45. The rear trim section 43 is joined to the rear edge of the side trim section 41 by means of a rearwardly projecting part in the form of aconvex head 46. The front trim section 42, however, is provided with bonding holes 48 and is of greater width than the rear trim section 43. The front and rear trim sections 42 and 43 and the beads 45 and 46 by which they are joined tothe side trim section 41 all he in the same side of the side trim section, forming a trim member of U-shaped cross-section.

The entire trim member 40 is of elongated unitary construction, being formed by bending a strip of sheet metal stock. For this purpose, the best metal to employ is of the non-rusting type, such as aluminum. Thin aluminum sheet stock having a thickness of about 0.020" is suitable. The three trim sections 41, 42 and 43 are. in the shape of elongated rectangles, having parallel elongated edges. T hus, thev two heads. 45 and 46 arev parallel and are joinedto the edges of they side trim section 41. It is to be noted that the elongated convex front edgeportion formed by the front head 45 joins the side trim section 41 and the front trimsection 42 and is formed integrally with those sections along the elongated edge that is: at the front of the side section andalongthe elongated edge of the front trim sectionthat is adjacent the front bead 45. Similarly it is to be noted that the elongated convex rear edge portion formed by the. rear bead 46 joins the side trim section 41 and the rear trim section 43 and is formed integrally with those sections along the elongated edge that is at the rear of the side section and along the elongated edge of the. rear trim section that is adjacent the rear head 46. The sides of the elongated beads 45 and 46 that are joined with the side trim section are. substantially coplanar with the. side trim section and with each other and they are substantially orthogonal to, that is substantially perpendicular to, the front and rear trim sections 42 and 43. In this. way the front bead is disposed in a substantially upstanding configuration that extends away from the frame member on which the trim member is mounted and beyond the intersection of the plane of the front trim section with the plane of the side trim section. In this way a reent-ran-t portion is formed in front of the front trim section and adjacent the front bead. Likewise the rear bead is disposed in a substantially upstanding configuration that extends toward the. frame member and beyond the. intersection of the general plane of the rear trim section and the plane of the side. trimsection. In

bonding holes 48 have diameters of about A inch and are arranged in staggered relationship along the length of the front trim section 42. The face of the side trim member is smooth and free of holes. The trim members are supplied in standard lengths of 3', 6' and the like.

The outer surfaces of the trim member 40 are painted with a suitable base, such as zinc-chromite type of paint to facilitate bonding of wall paint and joint cement thereto, as explained below.

To finish off the doorway, in accordance with this invention, sections of trim member 40 of suitable length are pressed over the edges 32 of the wallboard with the front trim section 42 on the outer side thereof. Preferably, the lengths of the trim members are such that butting of sections of trim members intermediate the ends of the frame members is avoided.

When the trim members have been pressed into place, nails'are driven through the front sections 42 of the trim members and through the covered portions of the wallboard and then through the rear sections 43 of the trim member into the adjacent frame members to hold the edges of the panels of wall board and the trim members 40 securely in place. With this arrangement, the edges 32 of the wall board are concealed and protected from damage. To avoid popping out of nails after the wall is finished, cement-coated nails are preferably employed.

In nailing the trim members into place, the inner surfaces of the front trim sections are pressed against the outer surfaces of the panels 30 of wallboard covered by them, and the curved bearing surfaces of the rear beads 46 are pressed tightly against the jambs 16 and the finished header 20, forming slight indentations therein. In this way the rear bead of each side trim section is placed in intimate contact with the adjacent structural member on which it is mounted, and the side trim section projects substantially perpendicularly from the outer surfaces of such structural member, as indicated, for example, in Fig. 2. With this arrangement cracks are avoided at the corners 60 when the assembled unit is subsequently painted and the subsequent formation of cracks is precluded by virtue of the pressure exerted by the rear beads 46 on the frame members even though the Wall faces of the jambs are not flush with the wall faces of the two-byfours to which they are nailed.

In finishing oif the wallboard, the reentrant portions formed between the front beads 45 along the edges of the wallboard are filled with bodies 58 of suitable filler material, such as joint cement, the forwardly projecting beads forming borders for the bodies of cement. Preferably, three coats of such joint cement are applied, and the outer portions thereof are made flush with the outer edge of the front bead 45. In this process, the joint cement is squeezed through the bonding holes 48 and is applied to the adjacent exposed parts of the wallboard panels adjacent the front trim section 42, thus providing a firm bond betweeen the joint cement and the trim members and the adjacent parts of the wallboard panels. The body of filler material so applied to each trim member .covers the entire front trim section 42 including the free edge of the front trim section that is remote from the front convex bead, and it is tapered gradually toward the remaining exposed part of the wallboard. In this way the bodies of filler material conceal the entire front trim sections and also the adjacent parts of the wallboard, as shown, for example, in Fig. 2. In addition, paper tape 56 is secured over seams or joints between adjacent panels of the wallboard.

The entire exposed surface of the wall is then coated with texture, a mixture of a sealer and bonding cement, finishing the wall smoothly preparatory to application of paint. The outer surfaces of the side trim section 41 as well as the outer surfaces of the finished members 16 and 20 and the stop 22 are then painted. It is to be noted that by virtue of the inward pressure exerted by the rear 4 bead 46' on the jambs 16 and the finished header 20, paint cracks are avoided at the corners 60.

If the wall is to be covered with wallpaper instead of paint it is not necessary to employ paper tape over the seams or joints between adjacent panels of the wallpaper. Also in this case it is not necessary to cover the wall with texture, as described above.

With this trim member an excellent finish is provided even though the wall faces of the jambs and the finished header are not flush with the wall faces of the two-byfours to which they are nailed. Though the invention has been described with particular reference to the use of frame members which consist of two parts, namely, a finished one-by-four and a rough two-by-four, it is clear that the invention may also be applied by employing finished two-by-fours as frame members.

While the invention has been described with particular reference to a specific embodiment thereof, it will now be obvious to those skilled in the art that many changes may be made in the shape and dimensions of the parts and in the material of which the trim member is composed without departing from the invention. It is therefore to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiment thereof described in detail herein, but includes other embodiments coming within the scope of the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. In combination: an exposed frame member for framing an opening formed in a building; a piece of wallboard having its edge overlying said frame member; a trim member including a side trim section, a concave rear trim section and a flat front trim section, a convex rear edge portion joining one edge of said rear trim section to the rear edge of said side trim section and a convex edge portion joining one edge of said front trim section to the front edge of said side trim section, said front and rear trim sections being substantially parallel, said edge of said wallboard lying between said front and rear trim sections; and fasteners projecting through said front trim section and said wallboard into said frame member holding said wallboard in place with said first mentioned convex edge portion pressed against the wall face of said frame member, and a body of joint cement covering said front trim section, said body of joint cement being flush with the outer edge of said second mentioned convex portion.

2. In combination: an exposed frame member for framing an opening formed in a building; a piece of wallboard having its edge overlying said frame member; a trim member including a side trim section, a concave rear trim section and a flat front trim section, a convex rear edge portion joining one edge of said rear trim section to the rear edge of said side trim section and a convex front edge portion joining one edge of said front trim section to the front edge of said side trim section, said front and rear trim sections being substantially parallel, said edge of said wallboard lying between said front and rear trim sections; fasteners projecting through said front trim section, said wallboard, and said rear trim section into said frame member holding said wallboard in place with said first mentioned convex portion pressed against the wall face of said frame member; and a body of joint cement covering said front trim section, said body of joint cement being flush with the outer edge of said second mentioned convex portion.

3. In combination: a structural member of a building; a piece of wallboard having its edge overlying said structural member; a trim member including a side trim section, a concave rear trim section and a flat front trim section, a convex rear edge portion joining one edge of said rear trim section to the rear edge of said side trim section and a convex front edge portion joining one edge of said front trim section to the front edge of said side trim section, said front and rear trim sections being substantially parallel, said edgeof said wallboard lying between said front and rear trim sections; fasteners projecting through said front trim section and said wallboard into said structural member holding said wallboard in place with said first mentioned convex edge portion pressed against the wall face of said structural. member; and a body of filler material covering said front front trim section, said body of filler material being flush with the outer edge of said second mentioned convex portion.

4. In combination: a structural member of a building; a piece of wallboard overlying said structural member; an elongated substantially U-shaped unitary trim member having a first elongated straight substantially flat trim section having parallel elongated edges and serving as a side section, a second elongated straight substantially fiat trim section having parallel elongated edges and serving as a front section, a third elongated straight substantially concave trim section having parallel elongated edges and serving as a rear section, a first elongated, rearwardly projecting, convex part formed integrally with each of said side and rear trim sections and joining said rear and side trim sections, one side of said first elongated convex part being substantially coplanar with said side trim section at the rear edge thereof and being substantially orthogonal to said rear trim section whereby said part extends, beyond the intersection of the plane extended from said rear trim section to said side trim section, in a substantially upstanding configuration relative to said rear trim section, and a second elongated, forwardly projecting, convex part joining said front and side trim sections and formed integrally with each of said side front trim sections, one side of said second elongated part being substantially coplanar with said side trim section at the front edge thereof and being substantially orthogonal to said front trim section whereby said second part extends, beyond the intersection of the plane extended from said front trim section to said side trim section, in a substantially upstanding configuration relative to said front trim section, the free edges of said front and rear trim sections projecting in the same direction away from said side trim section, said edge of said wallboard lying between said front and rear trim sections; and fasteners projecting through said front trim section and said wallboard into said frame member holding said wallboard in place with said first mentioned convex part pressed against the wall face of said frame member; and a body of filler material covering said front trim section and the adjacent part of said Wallboard, said body of filler material being flush With the outer edge of said second mentioned convex portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,473,584 Norman Nov. 6, 1923 1,573,452 Richards Feb. 16, 1926 1,615,972 Bowers Feb. 1, 1927 1,648,336 Dowell et al. Nov. 8, 1927 1,694,673 Thomas Dec. 11, 1928 1,886,320 Waite Nov. 1, 1932 2,012,203 Peterson Aug. 20, 1935 2,188,090 Young Jan. 23, 1940 2,593,859 Dunlap Apr. 22, 1952 2,663,390 Dordel Dec. 22, 1953 

